International A Level Biology / Photosynthesis

Limiting factors: light, carbon dioxide, temperature and wavelength

Edexcel International A Level Biology (YBI11), chapter 14: Photosynthesis, specification point 5.8. Part of the full course.

Read the revision notes · International A Level Biology past papers

Photosynthesis is limited by the factor in shortest supply, so increasing that factor raises the rate. Light intensity, carbon dioxide concentration, temperature and wavelength affect the rate in different ways.

More lessons in Photosynthesis

• Photosynthesis: the overall reaction
• ATP: the immediate energy supply
• Chloroplast structure and function
• Absorption and action spectra
• Separating leaf pigments by chromatography
• The light-dependent reactions
• Cyclic and non-cyclic photophosphorylation
• The Calvin cycle
• What the plant makes from GALP
• Core practical 10: measuring the rate of photosynthesis